Mayor Gavin Newsom has said numerous times that he regretted telling a reporter once that he wanted to run for president. Whether that same feeling applies regarding his stated intention to run for governor only time will tell.

Newsom’s bold, early bid for the governor’s job may have caught some people by surprise, but the strategy behind it is anything but startling. The crowd of Democratic candidates for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s job in 2010 is going to require voters to carry a scorecard, and there’s only going to be so much money to go around for those who have any realistic chance of raising the $30 million or more that most political observers think it will take to win the state house.

But raising funds is only one reason for the move. Newsom needs to raise his profile — his supporters hope in a positive way — if he has any chance to deal with the name recognition of Attorney General (and former governor) Jerry Brown, or the voter-rich advantage believed to be held by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Villaraigosa — whom like Newsom is slick, photogenic and focused on issues he thinks will resonate with a statewide audience — has one drawback that Newsom’s announcement hopes to capitalize on. The Los Angeles mayor faces re-election in 2009, and voters don’t like it when their politicians seek re-election for one office when it’s clear they have their eye on another.

In any event, both mayors have a problem that won’t be easy to shake — history. The race for governor is littered with the tattered dreams of big-city mayors throughout California, a list that is long and memorable and includes such names as Joseph Alioto, Dianne Feinstein, Sam Yorty, Tom Bradley and Pete Wilson. (Wilson won the governor’s seat only after becoming a U.S. senator.)

What’s obvious from that lineup is that the nation-state of California is so large, even the biggest city mayors aren’t always well-known outside of their regions, as well as the fact that what plays in San Francisco doesn’t fare well in Modesto, let alone the Bible Belt of Orange County.

"The record for big-city mayors becoming governor is not all that good," said Mark DiCamillo, who has run the California Field Poll for years.

Newsom has one other worry — that his eyes don’t wander any further off the prize called San Francisco.